"Smooth Sailing in Q3 as Well"… Samsung C&T, POSCO, and GS Construction Report Zero Major Accidents This Year

Among Top 10 Market Leaders, 3 Companies Report Zero Fatal Accidents This Year
Efforts to Establish a 'Safety Culture' Beyond System Improvements

POSCO Engineering & Construction officials are assessing the site safety status through a smart dashboard at the site. / Photo by POSCO Engineering & Construction

[Asia Economy Reporters Kyungjo Noh, Taemin Ryu] Among the top 10 construction companies in this year's construction capability evaluation, Samsung C&T, POSCO Engineering & Construction, and GS Engineering & Construction have been navigating the third quarter without any serious accidents. These construction companies emphasized that they have been striving to improve systems, provide education, and establish a safety culture for 'safety management' even before the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was enforced at the end of January.

According to the government and the construction industry on the 15th, Samsung C&T, POSCO Engineering & Construction, and GS Engineering & Construction have had no fatal accidents caused by serious accidents so far this year. Among the top 10 construction companies, Hyundai Engineering & Construction was also not listed in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's list of construction companies with fatal accidents until the second quarter. However, in July, a foreign worker died in a crushing accident at an apartment construction site in Asan, Chungnam, preventing the achievement of the 'zero (0 cases)' serious accident goal.

Since Samsung C&T and the other two companies each had 1 to 2 serious accidents last year, they plan to maintain zero fatal accidents until the end of this year by building on this momentum. They stated that their vigilance regarding safety is not a recent matter but the result of continuous efforts.

First, Samsung C&T expanded its Safety and Environment Office, which previously consisted of two teams, into the Safety and Health Office at the end of last year, establishing a total of seven teams including the Policy Team, Operations Team, Support Team, Environment Team, and safety and health teams for three business divisions. They newly appointed a Vice President-level Chief Safety and Health Officer (CSO) and established a dedicated safety research organization called the 'Construction Safety Research Institute' and a 'Safety and Health Advisory Committee.'

They not only use safety management costs exceeding the standards of the Industrial Safety and Health Act but also deploy more safety managers. However, they emphasized that the most important factor is the establishment of a culture where on-site workers themselves strive to maintain safety. A Samsung C&T official said, "There are various stakeholders on site, including our employees and subcontractors. No one should neglect safety. Thanks to all workers having this awareness, the site has been operating without any unfortunate accidents so far."

POSCO Engineering & Construction is practicing under the slogan "Happy with Safety, With POSCO," focusing on ▲creating a safety practice culture centered on the site ▲expanding the application of Smart Safety ▲implementing the Safety Report System and exercising the right to refuse unsafe work.

Specifically, they subdivided the two departments (Planning and Diagnosis) within the existing Safety and Health Center into five departments: Planning, Diagnosis, Education, Technology, and Win-Win Cooperation. The executive in charge of the center was promoted from a director-level to a headquarters-level CSO. The Safety and Health Director was granted independent final decision-making authority, personnel authority, and budget authority. Additionally, from this year, they established a 'Partner Company Safety Win-Win Group' to strengthen safety education and inspections.

GS Engineering & Construction introduced a Safety Manager system last year and built a smart safety management system such as RTLS, which allows real-time location tracking of workers indoors. They also attracted attention by deploying the four-legged walking robot 'SPOT' on site, the first of its kind in Korea.

They conduct thorough safety education evaluations for new workers, including foreigners. Only workers who score 70 points or higher on the evaluation participate in work, while those who score below the threshold receive retraining and reevaluation. A GS Engineering & Construction official said, "We prioritize safety as a core value and establish and implement safety and health promotion tasks every year. Overseas sites are also recording zero accidents, and we will pay even closer attention."